Draft Talk – Visits

Posted: March 25th, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

The draft is a month away. The all star games are over. The Combine is done. Right now teams are going to Pro Days and lining up Top 30 visits with prospects they are especially interested in. Let’s see who the Eagles have looked at.

TOP 30 VISITS

OG Christian Mahogany – Boston College
OG Cooper Beebe – Kansas State
OG Zack Zinter – Michigan
OG Brandon Coleman – TCU
OT Tyler Guyton – Oklahoma
OT Travis Glover – Georgia State

WR Brenden Rice – USC
WR Ainias Smith – Texas A&M

DL Khristian Boyd – Northern Iowa

Edge Laiatu Latu – UCLA

LB Edgerrin Cooper – Texas A&M

CB Cooper DeJean – Iowa

SPECIAL INTEREST

WR Xavier Worthy – Texas – WR coach at his Pro Day
WR Adonai Mitchell – Texas – WR coach at his Pro Day
WR Jordan Whittington – Texas – WR coach at his Pro Day
WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint – Georgia – Met with him at his Pro Day

RB Audric Estime – Notre Dame – RB coach at his Pro Day
RB Kimani Vidal – Troy – Eagles showing interest
RB Cody Schrader – Missouri – Asst OL coach worked him out at his Pro Day

OT Joe Alt – Notre Dame – Asst OL coach at his Pro Day
OT Blake Fisher – Notre Dame – Asst OL coach at his Pro Day
OT Javon Foster – Missouri – Asst OL coach at his Pro Day

Edge Javon Solomon – Troy – Met with him at the Combine (of interest because he’s a small school senior)

LB Jaylon Dillard – Texas – LB coach at his Pro Day
LB Jontrey Hunter – Georgia St – LB coach at his Pro Day
LB Derrick McClendon – Colorado – Eagles reportedly showed interest at Pro Day

CB Terrion Arnold – Alabama – DB coach at his Pro Day
CB Kool-Aid McKinstry – Alabama – DB coach at his Pro Day
CB Ennis Rakestraw – Missouri – DB coach at his Pro Day
CB Kris Abrams-Draine – Missouri – DB coach at his Pro Day
NB Morice Norris – Fresno State – Eagles showing interest

SAF Sione Vaki – Utah – Had coach at his Pro Day
SAF Cole Bishop – Utah – Had coach at his Pro Day
SAF Jaylon Carlies – Missouri – DB coach at his Pro Day
SAF Jaylin Simpson – Auburn – Had coach at his Pro Day

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Let’s start by talking about the Top 30 Visits. You can see a focus on O-linemen. Only one of them, Tyler Guyton, is a first round prospect. So why all the visits? It feels like OL is a position where intelligence and personality are critical factors. The best way to judge that is through a longer visit. You only get a few minutes at the all star games and Combine. Guys spend the whole day when they visit team facilities.

The player I’m most excited about is WR Ainias Smith. He is a mid-round target, but I love his game. He’s 5-9, 190 and has great RAC ability.

DB Cooper DeJean got hurt late in the year and couldn’t work out in Indy. He could be coming to Philly to get checked out medically. DeJean has a ton of potential. He is an athletic playmaker and you can’t get enough of those guys.

It is good to see Edgerrin Cooper on the list. The Eagles must add a good LB prospect this year. Devin White has a one-year deal and Nakobe Dean is still a mystery.

As for Pro Days, Eagles assistant coaches are being more active than last year. That could be because the season ended late last season or it could be that the organization made it a point of emphasis to get coaches on the road this year. Keep in mind that the players listed above are a mix of Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and even UDFA prospects. Just because you’re interested in a player doesn’t mean you have an early grade on him.

The Eagles are showing interest in multiple CBs who could be in play at pick 22 or close to that spot. The Eagles know that spot must be upgraded, especially with a young talent.

The safeties from Utah are both intriguing. Cole Bishop could very well be a 2nd round player. Sione Vaki isn’t as highly rated, but can play RB as well as safety. He played both spots for Utah and worked out at both spots at his Pro Day.

One player I would expect the Eagles to bring to Philly is LB Payton Wilson from NC State. He will turn 24 this spring and has major injury issues, but Wilson is arguably the most talented LB in the class.

He has a good combination of size and speed. He picked off 3 passes and had 6 sacks this year. He makes hustle plays all over the field and is relentless in pursuit. He’s tough and makes a ton of tackles. Really fascinating prospect because of the risk/reward and the Eagles need for a good LB.

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Depth Moves for the Offense

Posted: March 23rd, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

Howie Roseman has used free agency to add key players like Saquon Barkley, Bryce Huff and CJGJ. He has also done a good job of adding depth the to the roster. Some of those players won’t make the team in September, but it is smart to bring in players to compete in the spring and summer. You never know when one of them will turn out to be a good signing.

You may wonder why the Eagles would add a fourth QB. They already have Jalen Hurts, Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee. They drafted two of those guys and just traded for the other one. I doubt they are unhappy with any of the trio.

Grier makes sense because of his history with Kellen Moore, the Eagles new offensive coordinator. Grier was a backup for the Cowboys in 2021 and 2022, when Moore was the OC there. Grier then spent some time last year with Moore and the Chargers.  Grier can help the Eagles QBs and other skill players better understand the new offense. He can talk to Hurts about how to read a certain progression. Moore can explain it, but from a coach’s perspective. Grier can talk from a player’s perspective and there is value in that.

There is also the simple question of depth. Should one of the other QBs get hurt, Grier could win a roster or practice squad spot. He started 2 games back in 2019, but hasn’t played since then. The Eagles will be his sixth team so he’s been good enough to bounce around, but not good enough keep a job.

Now let’s talk about Parris Campbell.

He was a second round pick by the Colts back in 2019. He’s caught 117 career passes. That sounds like someone you should be interested in. But he averages 9.3 yards per catch for his career. That’s not good, to put it mildly.

Campbell has solid size at 6-1, 205. He ran 4.31 at the Combine. He’s got the physical tools to be a good NFL receiver. Somehow his best NFL season was 2022, when he went 63-623-3.  Campbell is proof that there is more to the NFL than size and speed.

The Eagles were high on Campbell when he was coming out of Ohio State. They took JJ Arcega-Whiteside with pick 57. Campbell went to the Colts at pick 59. There is a story that scouts wanted Campbell, but were overruled by Jeffrey Lurie wanting JJAW. That may or may not be true. Either way, both players turned out to be disappointing. Campbell has at least been functional.

AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith are a dynamic duo. The Eagles needed depth behind them. They signed DeVante Parker and now Campbell. That gives the team a pair of veteran players to compete for the #3 spot. Parker has had the better career, while Campbell is younger and more athletic.

The Eagles are not done at WR. They might be with pro moves, but they are doing a lot of work on draft prospects. They are even checking out guys who could go as high as the second round. I’m not sure that’s an ideal use of resources, but this shows you the team wants better depth at receiver than they had last year. Quez, Oz and Julio Jones were an odd combination.

While Nick Sirianni wants to feed his stars over and over, Moore has spread the ball around. AJ and DeVonta will still be the workhorses. Moore might just push Hurts to use the other weapons more often than he did in past seasons.

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No real news, but still sounds like Reddick will end up traded. Teams aren’t getting great compensation this year with veteran trades, but Reddick isn’t going to be happy until he gets a new deal. That isn’t coming from the Eagles. We’ll see how this plays out.

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